Posts Tagged ‘children’

04
Oct
2011

Educational, Experiential Preschool

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Children learn by using as many of their senses as possible. It is through “doing” that concepts are learned. We want our children to have a very good feeling about who they are and how special they are. Every teacher looks for the best in each of the children. We take time with them and never ask them to perform tasks beyond their abilities. We might give them a little push when we sense they are ready for the next challenge, but it is always up to them.

If you insisted your child would never scoot or crawl, but would only walk, both of you would have a very long wait. The child’s body isn’t ready to walk until it is ready to walk. There are processes which need to come first in the child’s development. A child cannot read because you decide it is time, yet your child will learn to read on his/her own timetable. A child cannot read because he/she can identify the alphabet. That has little to do with the process. Singing the ABC’s is performed perfectly by some of our 2s. That makes us smile. The process does include left to right tracking, speaking in sentences, thinking in sentences, conversing logically with other children and adults, and crossing the mid-line. A child also needs to be able to listen in a group setting, be able to sit for a good 15 minutes and concentrate, and be able to sit in a group without bothering a neighbor. Also, finding colors and items from a field of items and colors is important. These things are being practiced all the time.

A child cannot grasp math concepts just because he/she recognizes numerals. First, a child must understand the idea of quantity, sorting by numbers, sizes, colors and shapes, measuring, pouring, and mixing. From 2s through 5s these things are part of our curriculum.

All of the above is done right here. That makes us an educational, experiential preschool. Before any child goes to Kindergarten, he/she needs to be able to handle dressing and caring for his/her own body without adult help. We always encourage them to do so. Parents need to do the same. Pencil grasp is important and worked on to help the child get comfortable and ready to write. Upper and lower case letters should be used when writing your child’s name and helping them write it. Eye-hand coordination is so important, and your child should be able to carry out a series of jobs based on your giving them three command sentences. We want your children to be doing the best they can for the ages they are.

So, that is who we are and what we believe. Any child should be given a solid foundation in a loving and growing environment. We operate on child time here.

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15
Sep
2011

We Must Be Their Advocates

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Are children 2-11 too young to be consumers? We certainly think so, and we worry about some of the play coming from ads on TV and the Internet that children do not even understand. We worry about children acting in “too grown up” a manner in their play after watching movies that are not meant for their viewing.

 

Yet companies have one interest in all the marketing they do, the bottom line. In 1980, companies were spending about $1,000 marketing to children. Now they are spending $17 billion annually to reach our little ones.

 

Whether your child is looking at the back of a cereal box or walking past the TV seeing Spider Man do incredible stunts, they do not have the ability to understand that what the ads promise isn’t reality.

 

If we cut screen time and really preview what our children watch, we are giving them a great gift. We need to be their advocates. There is no one else.

 

Diane Levin, Exchange May/June 2009

 

Helping Our Children

Here is what a comprehensive and meaningful response, directed at children, families, schools, communities, and the wider society might be:

  1. Protect children as much as possible from exposure to commercial culture. Parents create rules and routines around media use, as well as what is purchased, when, and how.
  2. Restore children’s right to develop their full potential through play by helping them:
  • Regain control of their play so it is not remote-controlled.
  • Find deeply meaningful content to bring to their play that comes from direct experience, not the screen.
  • Become good problem-finders and problem-solvers in their play.
  • Find interesting problems to work on and develop the skills to solve them.
  • Have large blocks of uninterrupted time when the can play at home and school.
  • Learn to use open-ended materials such as play dough or blocks in the service of their play, rather than toys that control the play.
Parents and schools need to work together to support children’s right to childhood.

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19
May
2010

Terrific Twos!

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You bet we take two-year-olds at Shadow Rock! We LOVE the twos!Culturally common phrases such as The Terrible Twos are old hat. What is it about theselittle people that elicits such a reaction?A wise Parent Study teacher once told me that twos absolutely MUST push limits—it’s howthey begin to learn that they are independent creatures with a will of their own.

Sometimes it seems like there could be an easier way, but all of this saying NO and pushing isnecessary so that these little ones are not still living at home when they are thirty. Do they have to be potty trained? No, not until our classes for threes.

What can two-year-olds DO in preschool? On a typical morning you’ll find them digging a hole in the sand box and running our grassyhill. You’ll see them making bubbles and playing with a parachute. You’ll find them painting at the easel with big strokes and putting tiny little wooden puzzles together. You’ll see them building with blocks beside one another. You’ll hear their delight as they twirl and danceand pretend. You’ll be amazed that they can sit and listen to a short story book.You’ll see them cooking and finding their own jacket and cubbie, walking backwards to theirroom and holding a friend’s hand, singing the “Good Morning” song and tapping rhythm sticks. They will pour their own juice and drink it from a paper cup, pour water through a funnel, and swish their hands in a tub of beans. They even can use their words asking for help and are beginning to occasionally “take turns” (commonly known as sharing).

One way to appreciate twos is to really concentrate on all that they are learning. Yes, it’s important for them to begin to put on their own jacket. Yes, it’s OK that they spit out a new food, at least they tried it! They are training their brain to control and coordinate their eyeswith their arms. They are seeking new textures and trying different tastes. And they are learning language! The average two-year-old enters this age with around 100 expressive words and turns three saying more than 1,000. If you learned this rapidly you’d have your PhD in a year! They are learning how to say words and how to use them to get what they want. They are learning how to train you so that you help them get what they want. And they are learning which words and phrases get you to pay attention to them!

Bring us those awe-inspiring, terrific, working-on-independence two-year-olds! We’re ready!
Marilyn and Sharon,
Shadow Rock Preschool Co-Directors

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30
Jun
2009

Parents Need a Break, Too

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Parenting is the hardest job you’ll ever have.

Need help?

Send your preschoolers to the best school around: Shadow Rock Preschool. They accept children who turn 2 before the end of August through young 5-year-olds. Their teachers have (among them all) hundreds of years of experience.

Kindergarten teachers are thrilled to have children who arrive ready to

  • Take direction.
  • Take turns.
  • Demonstrate compassion and fairness.
  • Ask questions.
  • Make good decisions.
  • Lead positively.
  • Love learning.

Call for information at 602-993-0050 or check them out online at shadowrockpreschool.org. Mary at 602-978-5259 can reserve a place for YOUR child.

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29
Jun
2009

ACADEMICS IN PRESCHOOL?

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ACADEMICS IN PRESCHOOL?

We at Shadow Rock Preschool think children learn best by being put into the middle of experiences. “When I do, I learn” is an old Chinese proverb. We believe there is wisdom in it. So we do and we learn. At this age it is most important for a child to

-Sharpen awareness of self
-Improve attention span and social skills
-Learn to follow directions
-Think, problem-solve and make appropriate decisions
-Practice self-control

The “academics” will come much later when that is what is developmentally appropriate.

Do we ask children to work with pencils in workbooks, practice penmanship, and memorize facts? Absolutely not!

Are children learning, are they challenged to think and question, do they practice hands-on discovery every day? Yes!

An example of cognitive (using the mind to think) activities follows for each age group.

In the twos, children might be
· in the hall finding their own jacket and placing it in their own cubby, which is marked with their printed name.
· discussing which color chair is for the teachers and which is for them.
· talking about what came next after story time, after pick-up time, before outside time.
· making rockets piece-by-piece, following directions and then counting to ten for them to blast-off.
· walking backwards to their room, sitting beside the teacher, on the rug, in the rocket ship, under the climber.
· moving like a frog, a penguin, a fish, a bunny, a bird.
· singing all the words to the “Good Morning Song” and “Here We Are Together”, naming everyone in their class.
· guessing what will happen next in the story.
· using words to ask for help, tell a friend what they want, and share or “take turns”

In the threes, children might be
· exploring gravity with cars dipped in paint racing down a tilted cookie sheet.
· discussing how airplanes stay in the air. (Even WE don’t understand that.) The experiment involved two balloons taped to the end of a table with the children blowing in the middle.
· counting constantly! (counting kids, sorting and counting bears, graphing kinds of pets)
· being read to with the teacher moving her hand from left to right.
· exploring books on their own—and turning pages correctly.
· cooking, measuring, reading a rebus recipe, building with recyclables, manipulating magnets,
singing memorized songs.
· discussing a tornado tube and how it is like water going down a drain.
· recognizing children’s names (their own and others) on the Helper Chart
· singing about the days of the week and naming what today is.
· exploring mixing colors of paint (red and yellow) and hues made by adding white and black.
· finding their own name at the snack table, or looking for a matching shape or color card.
· lacing cards, counting how many holes they had filled and how many were left.
· counting the children present and subtracting that from the “magic number” (their class total) to figure out how many children were not there.
· reviewing a story, what happened first, next, last, how else might it have ended.
· verbalizing feelings when someone is “not nice” and working through problems to find a mutually acceptable solution.
· adding their name to art work.
· predicting what happens to ice when it is set out in the room. How long will this take?
· problem-solving about how to create a snow-person with ice shavings.
· spreading cream cheese with a stick and arranging chocolate chips to form a design—preparation for writing and reading.
· sorting fruit, bears, frogs, butterflies, colored strips of paper, soft things from hard things.
· exploring properties of glue while gluing all kinds of things.
· answering the question, “What letters do I need to write to put your name on this paper?”
· responding to the direction, “You may use four snowflakes (or whatever) on your picture.” Also, to the instruction, “You may pick three friends to take in for snack.”
· predicting what will happen when a sweet potato is placed in a container of water.

In the fours and fives, children might be
· discovering how blubber keeps a whale warm by packing their own hand in Crisco and inserting it in cold water.
· planting, touching worms, playing with a “feely bag”. (Identifying items by how they feel, using words to describe the item so others can also guess what it is.)
· planting celery in colored water, placing an egg in vinegar, placing a pine cone in water—always asking first for predictions and then checking on the results. (This is elemental science!)
· talking about germs and why we wash our hands and cover our mouths when we sneeze.
· walking through various substances with their feet and also imagining that they are walking through some “way-out” substances.
· estimating how many bears are in a jar, then counting and graphing them by color. (An activity to be repeated with Valentine candy)
· engaging in classroom voting, who has the most, who has the least?
· patterning, patterning, patterning—with objects, art, words. (basic to reading)
· estimating and then counting how many steps it takes to reach the drinking fountain.
· laying down end-to-end to measure a large structure.
· sorting and graphing kinds and colors of apples.
· cutting colored paper to make paper chains.
· using “magic water” on purple paper to observe and guess why and what happens. (Wondering? It was water with a tiny amount of bleach.)
· hearing and recognizing themselves by their initials.
· beginning to write first and last names on artwork when requested.
· lining up by the month of their birthday.
· playing cashier and counting money. (practicing, that is)
· naming authors and illustrators and asking the teachers who did what if they forget to tell.
· guessing what animals live where there is snow.
· explaining how to prepare for company—what all is involved and needed.
· playing Color/Shape Bingo verbally only (not looking at the cards, just naming a red triangle, etc).
· discovering that salt on a string will stick to ice, even pick up the ice, and questioning why.
· cutting a snowflake pattern, first folding, planning, predicting how it will look.
· adding one link each day to a paper chain to keep track of how long we’ve been in school, and then making a predictable pattern each month, and finally discovering that patterns can be random or just be a repeating color.
· naming children as someone’s son or daughter, or as Miss or Mr. Last Name, by initials, by addresses, by phone numbers.

So…is SHADOW ROCK PRESCHOOL academic?

It’s the BEST KIND of “academic”.

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